An Ocean of Change
by Exploding BonBon
Summary: H2O: Just Add Water Fanfiction. When Charlotte lost her mermaid powers, Cleo, Emma and Rikki thought they'd gotten rid of her for good - but have they? And with the full moon coming up, they might have even more trouble than they expected!
1. High Seas

Set after Season 2 of H2O: Just Add Water. Please read and review! This is my first fanfiction so I'd love it if you told me what you thought.

Chapter 1: High Seas

Emma's alarm went off at 6:30 am. Already awake, she climbed out of bed and switched it off. 20 minutes later, she was walking downstairs in her well-pressed uniform; her blonde hair neatly clipped back, sensible sandals on her feet, ready for work at the JuiceNet café. Except that she hadn't had breakfast, so Emma made herself a bowl of cereal. She sat down at the table, next to her younger brother Elliot to eat it.

"What are you doing today?" she asked Elliot.

"I'm gonna go to the marine park with Kim."

Emma laughed, "Again? I thought it didn't go too well last time."

"I told her that she was paying for herself today - and I invited a few other people," Elliot replied.

Emma glanced at her watch. "Well, that's me. I have to go, so see you later."

Emma arrived at the café a few minutes early, so she wasn't in a hurry to unlock the doors. When she did open them, all she could do was gasp. And stare at the water everywhere.

The counter was dripping with it, and the whole café was flooded with water several inches deep. The sound of water running directed Emma's gaze back to the counter. A sink was overflowing and the tap wasn't just dripping. There was a steady gush of water coming out of it.

"_Oh no,"_ she thought. The tap was working fine as far as she knew, so why was water pouring out of it? The water was creeping slowly towards her feet. Emma couldn't step any further into the café because with the sandals she was wearing, she would get wet in seconds. And turning into a mermaid in the middle of the JuiceNet café wasn't the brightest idea, unless she wanted the whole town to know about her being a mermaid. And once that was out, there would be no way to stop people - doctors, scientists; from finding out that her best friends Cleo and Rikki were too, and eventually the whole world would know; and pictures of their mermaid selves would be splashed across every newspaper cover in the world!

_Okay, that's not going to happen,_ Emma told herself. _Just calm down,_ she thought. _All you have to do is freeze the tap-_

Her hand was almost level with the sink when she heard footsteps behind her. She swung round, pulling the café door shut with her. A dark-haired head appeared from behind the stand of trees near the café. Emma let out a sigh of relief. It was her boyfriend, Ash. He was the manager of the JuiceNet. Ash smiled at Emma as he walked up and gave her a quick kiss.

"You're here," Emma said when they broke apart.

Ash looked confused. "Is that a bad thing? Aren't I allowed to be on time to work?"

Emma smiled. "No, it's not that."

"So, what are we standing out here for? We should get to work."

"About that," Emma said. "Um, the café's kind of...

"Locked?"

"No, I have my keys."

"Well what then? Have globs of green goop taken over the café?"

_Not today,_ Emma thought. She realised that she would have to tell Ash what had happened eventually, so she might as well get it over and done with.

"The café's flooded," she said.

Ash started laughing. "You're joking right?" But then he looked at Emma's face. "Oh - you're telling the truth?"

Emma nodded frantically.

"How did this happen? Hang on that doesn't matter. We'll have to start cleaning it up then."

Emma looked at him, eyebrows raised. "We?"

"Oh I mean _I_ will. Is it that bad?" Ash asked.

"Uh huh. I could _swim_ in it. Not that I'm going to. I don't think you'll get it tidied up too soon, by the look of it."

"So why don't you just get Rikki over here?"

"Why? It's not like she can clean it up any better than you-" Emma cursed her stupidity. "Right, she can just boil the water away!"

Emma reached into her bag for her cell phone and started dialling Rikki's number.

* * *

"_Tonight, tonight, tonight…" _Rikki's cell phone bleeped out the chorus to her favourite song on Kate Alexa's new album. She yanked her bedcovers up over her head, but her phone just became louder. Groaning and still half asleep, she pulled herself up into a sitting position and held her cell phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she yawned.

"Hey Rikki, it's Emma. I need you to-"

"What time do you call this?"

"7:26. Rikki, you have to get here now!"

"Em, it's _Saturday morning_. You _know_ I'm not a morning person."

"Well you'll survive. The JuiceNet's flooded and I need you to give it a steam dry."

"So Miss Perfect finally made a mistake, and left the tap running. We all knew she would crack eventually…" Rikki laughed.

"Just get over it, and get over here!" Emma snapped.

"Oh, _okay_. Because I know you need my special power to do it. See you there as soon as I can get myself out of bed." Rikki switched off her cell phone and swung her legs on to the carpeted floor of her bedroom.

When Rikki appeared from behind some trees a way off from the café, Emma let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Hey, do you want me to go turn off the tap?" Ash asked. "The less water there is, the faster it can be cleaned up."

"Yes, if you can turn it off." Emma replied. "It might be broken. I can't think of any other reason why it's on. You did turn it off last night before you locked up, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course I did." Ash opened the door to the café. Emma stepped back, aware of the water lapping around the bases of the chairs and tables inside. Just then, Rikki came rushing up.

"Wow," was all she could think of to say. "There's going to be a lot of steam in here once I get going. It'll be like the inside of a kettle soon. What time does the café open?"

"Eight o'clock." Emma hurriedly answered.

"So I've got half an hour."

"Twenty-seven minutes."

"That's what I said…"

Emma decided not to argue. "As long as you get it done before someone arrives."

Meanwhile, Ash had picked his way across the café, trying to stay dry. "The tap isn't broken," he called out to the girls. Indeed, the tap was now silent.

Rikki rolled up the sleeves on her top and stretched her hand out towards the first patch of water in front of her. Slowly, she clenched her hand into a fist and the water rapidly heated up, bubbles already rising to the surface. In a matter of seconds the water had evaporated and all that was left was a slightly steaming - but dry - patch of tiled floor.

"Oops," Rikki said, "If you don't want your customers' shoes melting off their feet, I'd suggest you cool that down."

Emma nodded and held her outstretched hand over the steaming floor. She could feel the power coursing through every atom in her body and flowing into her hand.

But water was defiantly rushing into the space that had been dry seconds before, and though some evaporated off the hot floor with an angry hiss, other water simply heated up, bubbles rising to the surface and then popping.

"You know what would be worse than turning into a mermaid right now?" Rikki asked.

"What?" Emma huffed.

"Turning into a mermaid - and getting scalded in the process!" Rikki replied.

"Ha ha," Emma said sarcastically. Suddenly she realised what she could do. She lifted up her hand again and drew a line with her finger. Now there was a line of ice, stretching from the doors at the back of the café that led to the cool room, to the doors where the three stood. "What was the point of that?" Ash asked.

"Now I've got a path to the cool room," Emma explained. "Rikki, can you boil away the water on this side of the ice first, so I can check it out?" she asked.

"Whatever you say, boss," Rikki said, clenching her hand into a fist and sweeping it over the left side of the room. Somehow, she still found it hard to believe that she had such an amazing power. It had been more than a year ago when the three girls had stumbled on the moon pool at Mako Island and transformed into mermaids, and Rikki was sure that it had changed her life like nothing else ever would.


	2. Happenings

Chapter 2: Happenings

"Cleo, can you give me a hand down here?"

"One minute, Dad!" Cleo called back downstairs. She glanced at the text she had just received. It was from Lewis, her boyfriend.

Hey, full moon 2nite! R the girls stayin at ur house? Cant wait 2 meet up with u l8er, love u! Lewis xox

Smiling, she headed downstairs. "Yeah, Dad? What do you need help with?"

"Kim's invited her friends over for a sleepover. Can you blow up a couple of mattresses?"

_Why doesn't Kim blow up her own mattresses? _Cleo thought. _Hang on-_

"Did you say a sleepover? Tonight?"

"Yes, it's tonight."

"But… I need to have Emma and Rikki over tonight."

"Sorry, Cleo, but Kim's already invited three of her friends over. I don't need any more. You could ask Emma if you can stay at her house tonight, actually."

"Dad, _please?_"

"No, Cleo. The house will be crowded enough as it is."

"Fine," Cleo shrugged resignedly. "I'm going out; I've got my shift at the marine park." She headed for the front door.

* * *

The doors of the JuiceNet Café clanged open. Ash looked up from the smoothies that he was preparing and Zane walked in. "Haven't seen you for a while. Where've you been?"

"I was overseas with my dad for a month. He's still away actually. Some business deal's taking longer than he expected." Zane replied.

He sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter – but only for a second. "Ouch! The seat's hot! Why is it hot?" Zane asked Ash.

"Oh, Emma must have missed a spot."

"What?"

"When Emma got here in the morning, the café was full of water. But we got Rikki over here, and she tidied it up pretty quickly. Emma cooled down the café after but she obviously missed a few spots. Like the stool you just sat on-'

"Where's Rikki now?" Zane interrupted.

"She's in the cool room with Emma. They're still cleaning up."

In three seconds, Zane was on his feet and heading out of Ash's sight to the cool room.

* * *

The girls wafted away the steam that hovered around them, making it hard to see. When the air was clear, Emma surveyed the room and pointed out a corner to Rikki. Rikki aimed her fist at a large puddle where Emma had pointed.

"Rikki?" someone behind her said. Realising who it was, she completely forgot what she was doing, and spun around to face her boyfriend. She beamed at him. Zane leant down to give her a hug but somehow it turned into a kiss.

Emma had spun around with her friend, but she turned away again when she saw it was Zane, not wanting to intrude. Emma had never liked Zane. She hadn't trusted Zane either but when Rikki had entrusted Zane with keeping their mermaid secret she had had to learn to trust him with it too. Cleo had a more forgiving nature so she'd trusted Zane faster than Emma had. It had been hard for both of them because Zane wasn't the kindest person around. Though you could describe him as an angel, compared to a girl they would hate forever – Charlotte.

There was no way they couldn't hate her. What had she not done? She'd stolen their secret, and actually become a mermaid herself. And before all that, she'd lured in Lewis. It was only recently that the girls had rid Charlotte of her powers and her mermaid tail at the place where she had received them – Mako Island. Just before that, Lewis had realised what Charlotte was doing, dumped her, and gotten back together with Cleo who had been his girlfriend before Charlotte had even moved to this town. Lewis was what Rikki would call a geek – actually now Emma thought about it, she would as well. Lewis was very good at science. Always studying and analysing stuff. Since he knew that the girls were mermaids, he was always helping them in tricky situations along with Zane and Ash.

Emma glanced at the puddle of water in the corner, the one Rikki had been about to boil away. _Why isn't she doing it now? _Emma asked herself.

Then she remembered. _Better interrupt that kiss before it turns into a making-out session, _she thought glancing over her shoulder.

It already had. Emma supposed it wasn't kind to stop Rikki and Zane in the middle of a kiss. They were girlfriend and boyfriend, for a start, and they hadn't seen each other for a month. But the last puddle in the whole café needed to be dried up and so what if the girl who could do it was busy kissing her boyfriend? _They can always get back to it later, _Emma thought so she turned around and cleared her throat.

"Ahem…"

They both turned towards her, Rikki looking annoyed, Zane looking a little sheepish almost like he had forgotten Emma was in the room.

"Rikki evaporate that puddle please," Emma said pointedly.

Rikki rolled her eyes at Emma. "We were a little _busy_, if you didn't notice. Besides, remind me _why_ do I have to do what you say?"

"I need that box of fruit over the other side."

Rikki could see that it would be difficult for Emma to get the box but she was mad at Emma. "Jump over the puddle then," she said trying to make it sound like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Rikki I am not jumping over that puddle. I don't want to take the risk of getting wet."

Rikki grimaced and without really concentrating on it she heated up the water – and the things surrounding it. There was a sizzling sound coming from the box.

"The fruit!" Emma exclaimed. "Rikki you've cooked it."

Rikki shrugged and said, "It can be my speciality. Rikki's Burnt Berry smoothie."

Emma shook her head and walked out of the room carrying the box, her head held high, a telltale sign that her feelings were hurt.

Rikki gulped. Perhaps she should have been more careful. But Emma was always bossing her around, telling her what to do and generally getting on her nerves. She turned back to face Zane.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done that," she said tentatively.

"Rikki, what you did wasn't that bad. It won't take long for Emma to calm down."

But Rikki knew Zane was trying to make _her _calm down. Emma's feelings could be easily hurt. "Maybe I should go and apolo-"

But she was cut off when Kate Alexa's voice started streaming out of her cell phone again. Rikki yanked it out of her pocket and glanced at the display. Cleo was calling her.

"What's up, Cleo?" Rikki asked.

"Um…"

Cleo hadn't answered her question but judging by the tone of her voice Rikki could tell there was something wrong. "What's the matter?"

"My idiot sister decided to have a sleepover on the night of the full moon," Cleo informed Rikki. "So we can't stay the night at my house."

"The full moon's _tonight_?" Rikki gasped. Cleo nodded, then remembered that she was on the phone. "Yes. And we can't go to yours either can we?"

"No way," Rikki replied. "My bedroom can hardly fit my own bed in it, let alone the three of us. But what about I ask Emma? Surely we can stay at her house."

"Isn't she working right now? That's why I called you. Though I didn't actually expect you to be up yet."

Rikki briefly explained what had happened that morning to Cleo. "I'm at the juice bar. I can go ask Emma now if you want."

* * *

"Emma," Ash said, "What are you doing this afternoon?"

"Oh, nothing much. Perhaps a bit of homework." Emma answered him.

"It's the school holidays," Ash said with raised eyebrows.

"So? Don't you do some extra work in the hols?" Emma questioned him like this was the norm.

"Uh…Well, do you really have to do your homework this afternoon? How about we have a romantic picnic together instead?"

"Really? Where?"

"Mako Island."

"Wow, yes please! So we need to get a lot sorted."

"No it's all done already. I made some food, Lewis is lending me his boat…"

Emma wanted to say _Thank you _but the words were stuck in her throat. She looked up at Ash and realised how much he cared for her, and how she cared for him too. It was true that they hadn't been together too long, and they didn't agree about everything, but no relationship was perfect. Emma felt that hers and Ash's was about as good as you could get. So Emma realised what she really wanted to say.

"I love you," she said and wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you too," Ash told her, giving her a kiss.


	3. Message In A Bottle

Chapter 3: Message in a Bottle

When Rikki ended her call with Cleo, she realised that Emma was the person she least wanted to talk to at the moment. However she'd told Cleo she would ask Emma if they could stay at her house tonight. And she would rather try and reconcile herself with Emma than get moonstruck, that she was certain of. So she gathered up her nerve giving the cool room a quick once-over before she turned to leave.

There was a glint of white in the corner of her eye. "What's that, a bit of paper?" she asked Zane who was standing nearer it.

"What's what?" Zane asked, puzzled.

"It's over there, on the windowsill behind you." She pointed.

"Oh," Zane walked over to it. 'It's an envelope," he said after examining it. "Here," he said handing it to Rikki.

Rikki looked at the envelope too. It had already been opened, but the envelope wasn't empty. There was obviously something inside. _Probably some unimportant letter,_ Rikki thought. She slipped it into her pocket, already forgetting about it.

"So did I hear you say the full moon is tonight?" Zane clarified. "Isn't Lewis normally helping you girls organise all that?"

"Mmm…" Rikki said. "He does, doesn't he? I'm surprised it wasn't arranged before today, but it hardly matters. I'll talk to Emma about it now."

Clutching the envelope, Rikki stepped out into the main part of the café. Zane followed her. "Hey, Emma. Did you know the full moon is tonight?"

"No, you're kidding! How come I didn't know about this earlier?"

"Don't ask me, ask Lewis."

"Where are we staying?" Emma asked.

"Well, we can't stay at Cleo's cause Kim's having a sleepover. Obviously we can't stay at mine. So…"

"So we have to sleep at my house? Well, I'll have to call my mum now. She doesn't really like things to be short notice."

Emma picked up her cell phone and dialled her home number. "Hey Elliot, can you get Mum...Hello...

"Hi Mum, can Rikki and Cleo stay over tonight...Are you sure?

…Mum this is really important……Please?"

Emma hung up with a miserable look on her face. "My mum told me to make a smoothie."

"What?" Rikki asked.

"She said no."

"Oh."

"I told you she doesn't like short notice! What are we going to do?" Emma fretted.

"Hang on," Zane said. "You girls need a place to stay the night. I've got my house to myself for the next week. You can come to my house, it's no big deal."

Emma was speechless for a minute, but Rikki made use of the time by thanking Zane. She stood on her tiptoes and hugged him. "What would I do without you… Emma, is there any chance that you could get me a Cranberry Booster? I feel kind of thirsty after drying up all that water."

"Could I get one too please?" Zane added.

"Sure, coming right up," Emma said.

* * *

Emma glanced at the clock on the café wall. It was 12:45. Her shift finished at 1pm so she had fifteen minutes left. Rikki and Zane had left a while ago for a walk along the beach. Emma and Ash had organised to meet them at Zane's house after they returned from Mako Island. Cleo, on the other hand, had not been notified that she was to go to Zane's house yet, as her cell phone had been switched off when Rikki had called her earlier. Emma assumed this was because Cleo was working today. However Lewis had dropped into the café and, though he said he was quite busy, he had promised that he would go to the marine park where Cleo worked and make sure that she knew everything.

Just before one o' clock, another couple of café employees had arrived for the afternoon shift. It was time for Ash and Emma to pack up their things and leave for Mako Island. Soon they were heading to the marina. On the way they stopped off at Ash's house so he could grab a basket of food he'd made for the picnic and change out of his uniform. They also made a quick detour to Emma's house in order that she could get into some day clothes too. Finally they arrived at the marina, climbed into Lewis's boat and set off for the island.

Her powerful mermaid's tail would have made it quicker for Emma to swim to Mako than go in a boat, but Ash hadn't been to the island before, so he wanted Emma to give him directions on the way.

* * *

Cleo scooped some slightly thawed ice cream into a cone and passed it over the counter to a small girl. The hot sun was starting to get to Cleo. It was a summer day, and in Australia that meant temperatures of around thirty degrees. Cleo felt as if not just the ice cream was melting but she herself was too. She bent down to retrieve a new container of ice cream from under the counter.

"Hey, Cleo?"

Cleo straightened up. "Byron?" she gasped.

"Do you know where Emma is?" Byron asked her.

Cleo was still trying to process this piece of information - Byron was back?

"I thought you moved up the coast?" she queried.

"Yeah, I did. I came here for the holidays. D'you know where Emma is?" he asked again.

"Oh, er, sorry, I don't know where she is. All I know is, she was working at the café this morning." Cleo told Byron.

"At the JuiceNet café?" Byron asked.

"Yeah…"

"Thanks!" Byron said enthusiastically. "Bye!" he called over his shoulder, already heading away.

Cleo thought about what the effect of Byron's holiday here would be. After he had moved up the coast, a couple of months before Charlotte had arrived here, nobody had given him much thought except for perhaps Emma. Byron and Emma had been in a relationship a while back, but it hadn't been that serious and they'd decided to be just friends. Byron didn't know about the mermaid secret and Cleo reckoned it should stay that way. Enough people already knew they were mermaids: Lewis, Ash, Zane, Charlotte, Max Hamilton and Miss Chatham. Cleo thought that they could trust everyone who knew with the secret. Except for Charlotte; they would have to watch out for her.

_I have to call Emma, _Cleo thought. She glanced around. No one was in sight now, and Cleo was especially glad that she couldn't see her boss. She would be irate if she caught Cleo on her cell phone when Cleo was meant to be working.

Cleo speed-dialled Emma's mobile. After a few seconds, she heard some beeps. _That's weird,_ she thought. _Never heard that before_. Then the answering service came on. "Hi, you've reached Emma. Sorry I can't take your call at the moment but if you leave a message I'll get back to you."

Emma almost always had her phone on, so even weirder than the strange beeps was that it was off. Cleo decided to call Rikki again. She would be able to confer with her on the subject of Byron's stay, and Rikki might also be able to tell her where Emma was. So since she had Rikki on speed dial too, she quickly called her. She was glad to hear ringing on the other end.

* * *

"Tonight, tonight, tonight…" Rikki's phone went off as she and Zane strolled along the beach.

"Can you change that ringtone? It's starting to get annoying," Zane complained.

"Sure. What should I change it to?" Rikki asked.

"Anything but," he replied.

"Okay, I'll make it Way to the Top instead," Rikki decided.

Zane shook his head. "Another Kate Alexa song? But if you insist…" he said, catching Rikki's expression.

"Nice save," she smiled as she pressed the green button on her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Rikki, where's Emma?"

"She's on Mako Island with Ash."

"Oh, that's why I couldn't reach her," Cleo said. "I have to tell you something."

"So tell me."

"Byron's here. He came to the marine park and asked me if I knew where Emma was."

"Why does everyone want to know where Emma is?..." Rikki trailed off. "So, that can't be good. By the way, we're staying at Zane's house for the full moon." As she walked, she felt something in her pocket. "Hang on a sec," she said fishing it out. It was the letter that had been in the café. She'd forgotten all about it. "I found a letter in the cool room. I haven't read it myself, yet. Want me to read it to you?"

"Sure," Cleo said, not knowing where this was going.

Rikki pulled out the sheet of paper inside. The writing was quite big, and not that tidy-a boy's? "Here goes," she said.

"Dear Charlotte, I know that when we met a couple of months ago we became good friends and had a small relationship. But we broke up, and now that you have moved down here I don't see much point in starting again. As a matter of fact, because I am here for a while I want to spend more time with Emma, my old girlfriend before I moved up the coast. I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings but that is how I think it has to be. Yours sincerely, Byron."

"BYRON?" both girls gasped simultaneously.

"Byron?" Zane asked, slightly confused. Rikki flashed him another look.

"Oh, Byron," he said.

"So that means…" Cleo said.

"That Charlotte must have flooded the café! She goes through boys fast. First Lewis, now Byron…"

"This is bad," Cleo murmured.

"Yeah, Emma is gonna have to watch out."

"Do you think we should tell her?" Cleo asked.

"We have to tell her," Rikki said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Cleo responded.

**A/N: Tonight and Way to the Top are both songs on the H2O: Just Add Water soundtrack. Byron is a character who was in the 1****st**** season, if you haven't seen it. Please read and review!**


	4. Cryogenics

Chapter 4: Cryogenics

The hall light flickered into life. Rikki looked around with interest, not having been to Zane's house many times before, taking it all in, the pictures on the walls, the walls themselves, the modern décor showing everywhere.

"You know, if you sold that table you could probably feed about a million starving children," she remarked. Zane smirked. "Yeah, but if I did my dad would buy it right back. On second thoughts, he'd make me pay for it out of my own money."

"I thought you were getting along better with your dad these days," Rikki frowned.

"Slightly," Zane replied. "But he hasn't changed; I'm the one who's been making the effort. He thinks he knows of better ways to spend his money than give it to charity. But I can't change him, there's no point me thinking about it," he said.

"Are you sure about that?" Rikki questioned.

"Yeah," Zane insisted.

"Well, if you're sure," Rikki said.

Rikki headed into the lounge. "Gosh, it's stuffy in here," she said, heading over to a window and opening it.

"Mmm," Zane said, not really listening. "Want something to eat?" he asked.

"Sure," Rikki responded. "What do you have?" she asked and followed him into the adjoining kitchen.

"Oh," he said, after inspecting the contents of the fridge, "Not much food. But there is juice, do you want some?"

"What type?" Rikki inquired.

"There's orange or apple."

"I'll have some orange juice," she requested.

Zane grabbed a tall glass down from the shelf, filled it with juice and stuck a straw into the glass.

"Aren't you thirsty?" Rikki asked. After a pause, Zane reached up and grabbed another straw. He deposited this straw into the glass as well. Rikki smiled. "OK," she said. "But don't complain if you don't get any of the juice, I am parched."

Zane grinned down at Rikki. "Don't worry, I won't deprive you of your hourly juice," he teased her.

"I don't drink that much juice!" Rikki protested.

"I was just joking! OK, at least three times a day," he said. Rikki found she couldn't disagree with him this time. Considering that Emma worked at the juice bar, they all hung out there a lot. Accordingly, she drank a lot of juice.

Rikki parked herself on the kitchen counter and started screwing the lid on to the bottle of orange juice. "I can never get these things on properly – oh no, it's wet!" Her hand had brushed over a drip of juice on the side of the bottle. Rikki grabbed a tea towel and started drying her hand frantically, but she was too late. She fell to the floor, her tail sliding off the counter and on to the floor tiles. "Ouch!" she muttered.

"Are you okay?" Zane asked.

"Er, well my tail really hurts, but apart from that, I think I'm okay."

"That's no good," Zane said, a devilish smile coming on to his face.

"Why?" Rikki frowned.

"I can't kiss your tail," Zane smirked.

"And why can't you?"

"Well, it's slimy or something isn't it?"

"No, it isn't slimy at all. Go on, at least touch it."

"Okay, okay," Zane said. He made a big show of reaching out and touching her tail with his fingertip. "You're right, it's not slimy."

"Of course I'm right. I mean, I have been a mermaid for than a year. I know what my own tail feels like."

"No kidding." The devilish smile still showed on Zane's face. Too late Rikki remembered what it meant.

"No, don't kiss me! Stay away from me!" she shrieked playfully, trying to shuffle away from Zane, but her tail was just an inconvenience out of the water.

Rikki raised her hands up in the air. "Fine, I surrender!" she said, laughing. Rikki looked, really looked, at Zane's face, those familiar features that she had seen so many times before. She angled her face so Zane could kiss her more easily and closed her eyes, letting her body take over her mind.

* * *

"Mm, what is that?" Emma breathed in the smell of the food Ash was unpacking from his picnic basket. The late afternoon sun shone down on them, settled on a picnic blanket on Mako Island beach.

"You'll see soon enough," Ash teased. "But I thought to start with we'd have a toast," he said, holding up a bottle and two glasses. "Your all-time favourite, sparkling mineral water."

"What are we toasting to?" Emma questioned.

"How about… being together?" Ash suggested.

"That's a good one. Being together," Emma agreed, nodding, and they clinked their glasses together. Ash took a sip of his water. "Ugh, it's warm. Would you do me the honours?..."he asked, holding his glass out toward her.

"Sure," Emma said quickly and started to move her hand towards his glass. Suddenly she sat still and silent, her hand frozen in midair. "Em?" Ash asked worriedly, peering into her face with concern. But she didn't move, didn't even blink. Emma made no sound even when Ash waved his hand in her face.

"EMMA! What is wrong with you?" Emma was staring off in one direction. Ash glanced around and realised that Emma's gaze was locked on the side of his glass. "Emma! Come on, talk to me. Stop staring around like an idiot!" But it was only then that Ash saw what Emma was seeing. Reflected on the side of his glass was…_The full moon,_ Ash thought.

"You can do nothing," Emma said, in a deep, spooky voice. Her voice reminded Ash of the voice little kids would use when they were telling each other scary stories at a sleepover.

_Huh? _Ash thought. _What is she talking about?_

"You can do nothing," Emma repeated, but in a scarier voice this time, one that actually freaked Ash out a little.

"What do you mean, I can do nothing?" he demanded of her. "Besides, you're a mermaid, not a werewolf," he added.

"I must leave. The ocean is beckoning me," Emma said.

"Okay, this is getting extremely strange," Ash said. "So I find out you're a mermaid. Perhaps, just perhaps, I can handle that. But then you see the moon's reflection, and you're all, 'The ocean's beckoning me?' Emma, what is going on?" Ash begged.

"The ocean's pull is strong. I cannot ignore it," Emma said, rising to her feet and lifting her outstretched hand. For a second Ash thought that she might have been pretending all along, but those hopes were dashed straight away when he heard a crackle and turned his head towards Lewis's boat, only to find that it now could only be identified as a small iceberg. He was completely bewildered. "Emma, did I do something wrong? Can I help you?" Ash tried one last time.

"You can do nothing," Emma said once more, and dove into the surf swimming away so fast that the trail of foam she left behind might only have been in Ash's imagination, it disappeared so quickly.

Dark grey storm clouds appeared in the perfect summer sky, blotting out the sun. Ash shivered as the first raindrop fell at his feet.

* * *

Meanwhile…

At the marine park, Cleo was packing up her belongings when Lewis came hurtling towards her, a bag of stuff from the hardware store in one hand and his fishing gear in the other. He was always carrying his fishing gear. Just last week, Ash had remarked, "That must be glued to your finger."

"Oh, hi Lewis! Er, why are you running? You never run anywhere," Cleo said.

"It's…an…emergency," Lewis panted. "The full…moon's already…up."

"It's not even two o'clock. Doesn't the moon rise at night?" Cleo asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, well, not today."

"How do you know that?"

"Easy. It's in the sky," he said, pointing. "But don't look at it!" he added quickly.

"Where are Emma and Rikki?"

"Let's see, Rikki and Zane are already at Zane's house, they're setting up everything, and Emma and Ash are there now. Probably."

"Probably?" Cleo repeated.

"Oh, come on Cleo, we have to get to Zane's house too! You don't want to be moonstruck, do you?"

"No, I don't," Cleo said. "But you're lucky Mrs Geddes isn't around, she'd kill me if she saw me leaving early," she warned Lewis.

Lewis handed her a pair of dark glasses and she put them on gratefully. The two of them hurried out of the park, Lewis keeping an eye out for irritating bosses while Cleo kept her head down to avoid the full moon's glow.


	5. Moonlighting

Chapter 5: Moonlighting

Lewis and Cleo hurried along together, Cleo wearing sunglasses to avoid the full moon's gaze. A sense of dread was growing in her; something bad might already have happened. Cleo had a terrible feeling inside her that something was wrong, and the fact that she even had the feeling was scarier to her than what the near future might hold. The thing was, Cleo thought, that none of the three girls had felt these senses of foreboding before they became mermaids. Sure, every once in a while back then they might have had a feeling something was going to go badly, but they still got that all the time, because that was a human feeling.

The worries they got when it came round to full moon time were totally different. They came, purely because the girls were mermaids. It was similar to having a sixth sense. Cleo hated that as much, if even more, than one of them actually being moonstruck. It just made the three of them tense and worried before the full moon had even struck one of them. S_ometimes it's just too hard being a mermaid,_ she thought dejectedly. Maybe the best full moons were the ones when she herself had a dose of the moon fever. That was if any of them had to get moonstruck. At least that way Cleo didn't have to deal with all of the problems a moonstruck mermaid caused. One bad thing about being moonstruck was that they never remembered a thing of what had happened. It was like a dream gone forever, disappeared in a flash; moments swallowed up by the endless black of the night.

Cleo snapped out of her reverie and hurried to follow Lewis up the path to the front door of Zane's house. _Correction, it's a mansion,_ Cleo thought sneaking a glance from under her dark glasses as Lewis pressed the doorbell.

* * *

"Ding-dong!" The doorbell rang loudly, echoing through the rooms. Zane and Rikki separated awkwardly. Zane shook his head, trying to recollect his thoughts. "Uh, I should get that."

"Yeah, you're going to have to because…" Rikki motioned to her tail. "I can't exactly go anywhere. Besides, the full moon is up, remember? And we haven't sealed up the windows or anything yet, have we?" she reminded Zane, only remembering this now herself.

"Oops," Zane said, grinning, and heading out the kitchen door. Rikki set herself to the task of drying herself off. She reached up to the kitchen counter where she'd dropped the tea towel. Rikki gave her hand a quick rub with the towel; she hadn't gotten herself that wet at all. Really she ought to have transformed back to her human self a while ago. But nothing was happening. Her blonde curly hair still fell past her shoulders instead of being tied in its two usual plaits, and her golden-orange mermaid tail was still visible, rather than her being outfitted in a short black skirt and red singlet top.

* * *

"Can I take off my sunglasses yet?" Cleo asked, making an effort to keep the whine out of her voice, but not being entirely successful. 'Your house is sealed from the moonlight, right?"

"About that…" Zane said hesitantly.

'You and Rikki didn't quite get up to that, did you?" Lewis said.

"No," Zane admitted. "We were…busy."

Lewis shook his head. "You would think it was one of the simplest jobs in the world by now. What else can I say? Well, we'd better get started on that straightaway." Lewis tried not to reveal his annoyance to Zane.

"Where's Rikki?" Cleo interjected.

"She's in the kitchen. There aren't any windows in there," Zane explained. Lewis turned to Cleo and took her hand. "Come on," Lewis said to Cleo and started leading her through the house. Cleo grasped Lewis' hand tightly, grateful for his guidance as she could see nothing. _These glasses really work,_ Cleo thought. _I wonder where Lewis got them._

Lewis led Cleo to the kitchen door and then went to help Zane tape up the windows in the lounge. Cleo carried on into the kitchen, taking off the dark glasses as she came in. She found Rikki sitting on the tiled floor, in a haze of steam. "Hey, what're you doing?" Cleo asked with a smile.

"Trying…to get rid…of this darned tail!" Rikki sputtered, flopping her tail up and down to emphasize her point as the steam concealing it cleared. "I'm dry, but it's not going away!"

"Are you sure you're dry?" Cleo asked. "I mean, that's never happened before. Unless… you don't think it's the full moon doing it?"

"I don't see how it could be; I haven't so much as glanced at the moon. I've been in here since before the moon even rose."

"What have you and Zane been doing all this time?"

"We were busy."

"That's what he said," Cleo tittered.

"The moon rose really early today, didn't it?" Rikki said, trying to change the subject.

"Since when have you been interested in that sort of thing?" Cleo asked. She decided to let the Rikki/Zane thing go, since she could see Rikki was reluctant to talk about it.

"I just am today, okay?" Rikki said defensively. "It's just interesting how the moon usually rises at night, and today it rose at like, two o'clock. Don't you think that's strange?"

"Yeah, I guess it is different from usual. Want some help?" Cleo bent down and grabbed Rikki's hand, fully intent on dragging her over to the kitchen door. But they never got quite that far as Cleo's body transformed into water for a few seconds. Then her tail appeared and she crashed to the floor, landing next to Rikki. She tried a few futile attempts at rubbing her tail with the tea towel, but since she hadn't even gotten wet in the first place, the towel couldn't exactly help her predicament at all.

"This cannot be happening," Cleo muttered to Rikki. "Lewis!" she shouted, at the same moment Rikki called "Zane!"

'What is it?" they called back immediately, in unison.

"We have a bit of a problem," Rikki yelled.

"Coming," Lewis and Zane hurried into the kitchen. Cleo and Rikki covered their eyes. "It's OK, the lounge is done," Lewis said reassuringly. They let their hands fall to their sides; Rikki propped herself up on her elbows.

"What's with the tails?" Zane asked.

"They won't disappear," Cleo said. "We've tried and tried…"

"Trust me, we've tried," Rikki said, looking at the boys who were standing helplessly in front of her and Cleo.


	6. Midst of the Storm

Hi guys, here's the new chapter. Finally got onto writing it!

By the way, I don't own H2O: Just Add Water. In case you were wondering.

Chapter 6: Midst of the Storm

The spa bath was huge. It was huge enough to fit two mermaids in, as a matter of fact. Rikki and Cleo sat side by side in the hot, foaming water, their tail fins hanging over the bath tub rim. Cleo knew from somewhere or other that a hot bath was meant to have a calming effect. But this particular bath didn't seem to have that ability. All she could do was mull over what had happened so far, including the fact that she and Rikki seemed to be stuck in their mermaid forms permanently.

"Emma should be here soon," Rikki said slowly, breaking the silence. _If not already,_ she said to herself. Cleo didn't reply straightaway. _That_ was the thought that had been nagging at the back of her mind! Due to all her other thoughts, it hadn't quite made it to the front yet.

"Oh no, she'll get hit by the full moon!" Cleo exclaimed.

"Why do you think that? Emma's sensible, she'll be fine."

"But she didn't know when the moon was going to come up," Cleo responded.

Rikki thought, _It's like Cleo _wants _something bad to happen._ "Look, Emma is with Ash. I bet they're on their way here now."

"You don't know that for sure," Cleo persisted.

"It's obvious. Look, Emma equals organised, equals safe. OK? I can get Lewis to call them if you're really worried."

"Thanks," Cleo said softly. She was trying not to show her emotions on her face but Rikki could tell when Cleo was upset, and this was one of those times.

"LEWIS!" Rikki hollered. The girls heard his footsteps as he came upstairs.

"You called?" he said as he came into the bathroom.

"Yes, I did indeed," Rikki answered back. "Call Emma for us, would you? We need to know when she's getting here," she said, totally relaxed. Cleo started to feel a little better. Maybe Emma was fine. Maybe she was just a little paranoid.

Lewis dialled Emma's number, but there was no sound at all. "Not working, guys. I can't hear a thing. Do you want me to try Ash?"

"Yes please," Cleo said appreciatively. So Lewis dialled Ash's number next, but he had no luck again. Ash's answer phone message came on: "Hello, this is Ash. You can call back later, leave a message, text me, or you might as well do nothing at all. Because frankly it doesn't matter to me what you do."

Lewis hung up. "Looks like the perfect couple forgot to turn on their phones," he said, slipping it into his pocket.

"Okay," said Rikki starting to grin.

"What?" Lewis asked suspiciously.

"Looks like you're going out to Mako Island to find them."

"No way am I going out there. Not in this weather," he said, talking about the fact that – strangely – it had just started to rain. It was also thundering. "Besides, Ash took my boat with him. How do you plan on me getting there?"

"I can arrange that," Rikki said.

* * *

"I cannot believe you dragged us into this," Zane said, shaking his head as the sound of thunder crashing outside reverberated around the lounge.

"Oh, it was no problem at all," Rikki smiled sweetly, stretching out on the sofa she was lounging on. Cleo was lying on a big reclining chair covered by a blanket. They were both still in mermaid form even after drying themselves thoroughly after the bath. Despite the blanket, Cleo shivered. The heat of the day had certainly gone. "You will be able to get to Mako in the Zodiac won't you?" Cleo asked worriedly.

"Yes, Cleo. Don't worry about us," Lewis said.

"And once you get there -"

"- we'll find Emma and Ash." Lewis finished for her.

"What if…"

"_Nothing _bad will happen. Now, are you girls okay? Need anything before we leave?"

"No, we're fine. Right, Cleo?" Rikki said.

"Right," Cleo replied, a twinge of anxiety evident in her voice.

"Call me if you need me…" Lewis said.

"We've got it," Rikki cut in. "Bye, boys." Zane and Lewis left the house. The door swung shut behind them.

"So why did you make them do it? Go to Mako, I mean?" Cleo asked Rikki.

"I wanted to get rid of the boys. They were getting a little annoying."

Cleo raised her eyebrows at Rikki. "No they weren't," she said. "A proper reason, please."

"Well," Rikki started, "I know you're worried about Emma. I thought it would make you feel better." Cleo nodded in affirmation. "And actually, I'm worried about her too," Rikki thought out loud. She would never normally admit this. Although Rikki often had disagreements with Emma, Rikki considered Emma her best friend. Emma deserved people worrying about her.

Rikki turned to Cleo. "Pass me a magazine, would you?" she asked her other best friend. Cleo handed a copy of_ Dolly_ to Rikki and took another magazine for herself. Soon the room was quiet except for the occasional turning of a page.

* * *

"Emma!" Lewis shouted out across the sand. The rapidly worsening weather drowned out his voice reducing it to a whisper. He scanned the beach, his hand shielding his eyes from the rain, looking for anything, some sort of sign or clue. He slowly made out a figure sitting huddled next to a big object. "Who's that, do you think?" he said to Zane who was pulling the Zodiac further up the beach so it wouldn't float away. "Looks too big for Emma."

"Gotta be her. Or Ash. No one in their right mind would come out here in this type of weather."

Lewis agreed and made his way over to the lone person. Zane followed behind him.

Lewis recognised Ash's features. "What are you doing out here? And where's Emma?" he said, slowly realising that he and Zane might have come too late since Emma was nowhere around.

"Does it matter?" Ash said wretchedly.

"Come on, Ash," Zane said, only having caught up. "Let's get out of here," he said.

"Is that my boat?" Lewis gasped, looking at the dark shape and realising it must be. "What happened to it?"

"Emma froze it," Ash said morosely. Then he seemed to open up. "She saw the reflection of the moon on the side of my glass. I think she must have. That makes them go crazy, doesn't it? And then she told me all this stuff about how I could do nothing and the ocean was beckoning her, and_ then _she froze your boat."

"Wow," Zane pronounced. "That certainly puts a damper on the evening, doesn't it?" Lewis took a while to process what Ash had said a while ago now. "Emma froze my boat," he said.

"Yes," Zane answered. "I think we understood that."

"I'll…I'll kill her!" Lewis spluttered, totally out of character to his normally forgiving self.

"If you can find her," Ash said. "She swam off at the speed of…um….the speed of moonlight. I guess she's out there now. In the midst of the storm."

"No way," Lewis said. "Did you know, the other two can't get their tails to disappear?"


	7. Alone in the Dark

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own H2O: Just Add Water. Sorry, but last time I checked, my name wasn't Jonathan M. Shiff. And if it was, I'd be making episodes rather than sitting here writing fanfiction. But don't worry, that doesn't mean I don't love you guys! (Especially if you review!)

Chapter 7: Alone in the Dark

Bang. A door closed. Rikki shut her magazine with a snap and dropped it on the carpeted floor carelessly, saying to Cleo: "How can you even read these magazines? They're absolute rubbish."

"Well, you didn't have to read them," Cleo tutted, but she didn't say it spitefully. Her heart wasn't in it to give her words much of any type of emotion. She was too anxious for Emma. Reading the magazines had been to steer the two of them away from negative thoughts. Cleo admitted to herself that it had worked, even if only a little bit. Artificial light from the hallway spilled into the lounge as Lewis walked in, followed by Zane, who came before Ash. The boys were all three soaked through and shivering with cold. Rikki craned her neck to see if there was a fourth figure, but Cleo realised it first. "No Emma," she said, despondent.

"No Emma?" Rikki repeated, snapping her head around to look at Lewis. She felt no sympathy for any of the three boys. Except perhaps Zane. _And no, that isn't just because he's my boyfriend, _she said to herself. _It's because his teeth are chattering so hard it looks like they are going to fall out._

"Where is she?" Rikki demanded of Lewis.

"I don't know," he replied, truthfully.

"She's somewhere in the ocean," Ash added, unhelpfully.

"She's moonstruck," Cleo confirmed. This statement was only a little more helpful than Ash's, in that it at least gathered the thoughts of the group and stopped any further mucking around. At least she thought it would.

"I can't believe you got Emma moonstruck!" Rikki practically screamed at Lewis.

"It was actually her fault she got herself moonstruck. Besides, she's done it before as you should full well remember."

"You really think so?" Name one time she got moonstruck and it was all her fault." Rikki said.

"Well there was the time at her dad's birthday party…"

"That could have happened to any of us," Cleo put in. "None of us knew what the full moon does back then."

"The time the full moon reduced all three of you to hysterics and Ash almost found out your secret…"

"That was mine and Cleo's doing, not Emma's," Rikki hurried to say.

"Okay then, when you got your new powers."

Rikki couldn't resist any opportunity to wind up Lewis. "That was your fault, remember? Yours, and that stupid Korean software of yours."

"Fine," Lewis gave in. "Emma's just too responsible to let herself be moonstruck."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Rikki asked.

"We can't do anything," Zane said. "You've seen the storm out there," he said looking round at everyone.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rikki said looking disbelievingly at her boyfriend. "You're saying that we sit tight here the whole night long, not even _trying_ to do anything to help her?"

"Zane's right in saying that," Lewis acknowledged. "She could be anywhere by now, and obviously Cleo and you," he said nodding his head at Rikki, "can't go look for her."

Cleo had been trying to hold back tears, but now she started sobbing.

"Cleo, don't cry!" Lewis exclaimed, running over to her. "There's nothing we can do for Emma," he said quietly to Cleo.

"I know," Cleo sobbed. "It's just…she's my best friend and for all I know she's on the other side of the world by now!" Cleo bawled. Tears poured relentlessly down her face.

Meanwhile Rikki had been considering the problem and finally started to understand its magnitude. Even if the boys went back out, which they were unlikely to want to do, they wouldn't find Emma, and there was only an infinitesimal chance that Cleo and Rikki herself would be able to locate her, in the immense ocean that was out there.

_Oh, except we __would__ end up in the same place as her if we tried looking for her, because we would just get moonstruck too, _Rikki reminded herself.

"Okay," she said to Cleo, "this is what's going to happen. We'll stay here all night. Emma will be back by morning, right Lewis?"

She paused to look at Lewis, who nodded dumbly. He had never seen Rikki's mood change so suddenly, from snappy and full of retorts; to businesslike - and - if he was allowed to think it - Emma-like. It wasn't anything like her certainly.

"Are you sure?" Cleo asked, still sniffling, but her tears had ceased at present.

"Probably," Lewis said.

"Definitely," Rikki told her. "For now, we should get some sleep."

Before long, the group were all in their sleeping bags.

Rikki was lying next to Zane. "What happens if Emma's not back by morning?" she asked him.

"I guess we'll go look for her again, we can't just leave her out there," Zane said, thinking about the time when Emma had saved him from drowning. He owed a sort of life debt to her.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me, you know."

"I know," he said.

They fell asleep in each other's embrace.

* * *

"Emma will be back by morning, won't she?" Cleo asked Lewis.

"Of course she will, you guys always come back when the moon sets. Emma, well she can look after herself."

"And you can look after me," was Cleo's response as she edged over to Lewis. She snuggled up alongside him, burrowing into his chest and loving the feel of his body against hers.

"You know I'd never let anything happen to you," Lewis replied, kissing the top of her head gently. Cleo turned her head towards Lewis and they shared a long and passionate kiss, like a personification of the storm outside.

* * *

Sky and sea were in turmoil. Unbeknownst to the whole world, except for five Australian teenagers, a mermaid soared powerfully beneath the black water, like a golden arrow in flight. The water formed towering waves, which then crashed back down, their echoes lost in the sky's own endless collection of noise, between the pounding rain, booming thunder and ephemeral flashes of lightning.

Alone in the dark. An ashen-faced boy with a similar name. Slowly, slowly he drifted into sleep, dreaming of that mermaid, of what had been, what was happening, and what was to come.


	8. Nowhere's Middle

Chapter 8: Nowhere's Middle

The last millimetre of moon disappeared beneath the horizon. The storm calmed. Darkness faded into light.

And Emma woke from her trance.

Fuzzy pictures flashed through her mind like an old film-reel, each one lasting for no more than a second before the next appeared. The images were accompanied by a string of incomprehensible words.

The first rational thought she had was: _Where am I?_

This question was not as easily answered as one might think. Yes, she was floating in the sea. But which sea? And why was she here?

The former question, she didn't have an answer to. If nowhere had a middle, this was definitely it. But perhaps she could have a go at the second - yesterday had been a full moon. Now that she thought about yesterday, she could remember Ash asking her to cool down his glass of mineral water. "I can't remember anything after that, so that must have been when I saw the full moon," she said out loud. "And then I swam out here."

Presently she looked around. The sky was cloudy and all she could see was water in every direction. Even if there was land anywhere near, she wouldn't be able to see it because of the haze covering the horizon. The clouds and haze were indicators that there had been a storm. "Probably caused by me," she said, again out loud, because there was obviously no one around.

Emma dove down below the surface. Here, the water was very deep. Bright tropical-looking fish swam past in schools and once or twice she saw a shark in among the colourful coral formations. She didn't know how long she stayed down there, but eventually Emma found herself rising back up after what seemed like hours. The water was much colder here than at Mako, and she didn't need her rumbling stomach to remind her that she was growing hungry.

"How am I ever going to get back?" she asked herself, begging her mind to come up with a solution. She didn't think she could stand another hour of this, let alone a day or a week. For a while she thought without really thinking as gentle waves billowed up and down around her. Then, she had an idea. She studied the ripples of water. They were all heading in one direction!

"If I follow them, I'll end up on land," she said to herself, quite sensibly.

_What if you don't? What if you're stuck out here forever,_ a nasty little voice in the back of her head said.

"Well, then, nothing will have changed from now," she told herself, and made to set off. Before she left, she raised her hand up to the sky, creating a storm. The clouds darkened and swelled seemingly immediately._ Maybe if the others are looking for me, they'll track this storm, _she thought, the idea reassuring her immediately and filling her with hope.

Every once in while, she stopped to check her direction and strengthen her storm. However she could feel her own strength slowly failing her, the last meal she'd eaten having been breakfast twenty-four hours ago. But thinking about Ash and the others filled her up in the meantime. Hopefully, they would follow her path. If not, she forced herself not to think about it.

* * *

Cleo woke slowly and reluctantly to the voice of a news reporter. She couldn't tell which one. That was what was bad about TV news; all the reporters sounded the same. She stretched out her arms and tried to get up; groaning, she went back down, realising she still had not transformed back to her human self. She twisted herself in her sleeping bag as well she could until she was facing in the opposite direction, towards Rikki's sleeping bag rather than Lewis' empty one. As she had expected, Rikki was still dead to the world, though it seemed everyone else was up. Cleo reached over and tapped the top of Rikki's head, the only part of her body visible.

"Go 'way, I'm asleep," was the mumbled response from beneath the covers.

"Which is why you're talking," Cleo said as a rejoinder. "Besides, all I want to know is, are you a mermaid?"

"Are you crazy? Duh, I'm a mermaid Cleo. So are you, remember?" came from Rikki, who had not even moved an inch from her position in her sleeping bag.

"Oops," Cleo said, ignoring Rikki's remark. "I meant, are you in your mermaid form right now?"

"Oh," Rikki said. "Let's see." The bottom of her sleeping bag rose up for a few seconds before falling down again. "Yup," she asserted, sounding not even the slightest bit bothered.

Lewis came in through the kitchen door. "Morning, Cleo," he said, "Rikki. I heard you girls were up."

"Ah! Can't a girl get any sleep in this town?" Rikki complained. Lewis either didn't hear her, or chose not to reply. "Cleo, are you all right? Tail still there?"

"Yes," Cleo said in response to his second question. She didn't know how to answer his first. _Was_ she OK?

"Hmm. Interesting," Lewis nod, looking as though he might soon do some serious thinking on the matter, because that was just how he was.

Ash was sitting on the couch with a stony look on his face. The news reporter had been replaced by a weather person. _"Australia's East Coast was ravaged by a freak weather event last night. The thunderstorm travelled down from the Gold Coast, damaging houses and felling trees all through the night. Atmospheric scientists are mystified as to why this storm is occurring and are wondering whether it has any connection to a similar freak storm at Mako Island six months ago. The bad weather waned at dawn, but the storm has again picked up and though this has not been predicted by scientists it currently seems to be heading towards Mermaid's Cove, near Sydney."_

"It is Emma, isn't it?" Cleo said, expecting Lewis to answer her.

"Yes, it's Emma," Ash replied. "I can feel it," he added before anyone asked him why he seemed so sure.

Everyone had been listening to the weather reporter. Even Rikki's head had now been revealed from under her covers. "Mermaid's Cove, there's a coincidence," she laughed.

"Or not," Lewis said knowingly. As soon as Lewis had heard the words 'Mermaid's Cove', he had opened up an Internet search on his laptop.

Zane came up behind Lewis, his curiosity getting the better of him, and read out loud.

"_Mermaid's Cove is a beach south of Sydney, known for its plentiful fishing and beautiful white sands. Originally it was a part of the adjoining Crystal Waters beach, but its name was changed when fifty years ago, a group of fishermen reported seeing a mermaid in the waters of the cove. This sighting was never verified as fact but from then on the area was called Mermaid's Cove by the local people and over the years the name has become much more common and became the official name ten years ago."_

"Interesting," Lewis said.

"I wonder what that all means?" Cleo asked, surprised at what she had just heard. "Maybe there were more than three mermaids fifty years ago," she said.

"Maybe Julia or Louise or Gracie swam down there. It could have been one of them," Rikki pointed out.

"But they gave up their mermaid powers," Cleo said. "How could it have been one of them?"

"It doesn't say it happened exactly fifty years ago. By then they had given up their powers. So it could have happened during the year they _were _mermaids, before the fifty-year full moon," she worked out. "I don't really like the idea of there being more than three mermaids at a time," she admitted.

"Right," Cleo said nodding. "I get it. Imagine there being other mermaids around somewhere right now. But ugh," Cleo exclaimed, "whoever it was, they were seen! How did they manage to cover it up, and get to land without being spotted?"

"I have an idea," Lewis said, after looking like he was thinking hard. "We should call Miss Chatham."

"Who's Miss Chatham?" Ash asked, speaking for only the second time this morning.

"She's an old lady who was one of the three original mermaids, fifty years ago," Lewis explained. "She could tell us what happened at Mermaid's Cove fifty years ago, and how they managed to get back here," he said, looking at Cleo, since she was the one who'd expressed an interest in finding out that. "And how to get Emma back too, hopefully."

"Yeah," Cleo said nodding. "I think it's a good idea. And we haven't see Miss Chatham for ages," she added. "What do you think?" she asked looking sideways at Rikki.

"Hmm," Rikki said. "We haven't seen her for months, not since that lunar eclipse. I'd like to talk to her. But I know a better way to get Emma back."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review! Um, I was wondering, does anybody have a suggestion as to a new name for the 50 year full moon because that sounds pretty stupid to me. (Not that I can think of anything else, it's what all people seem to be using.) If you can think up something good, maybe I'll reward you by letting you read a chapter before anyone else, or something like that. So, thinking hats on, people!**


	9. Mermaid Sister

Chapter 9: Mermaid Sister

"You WHAT?!" Cleo gasped, shocked.

"I…mumble…a…mumble," Rikki well, mumbled.

"I heard you the first time," Cleo said. "I just didn't BELIEVE you!" she yelled.

"Why didn't you believe me?!" Rikki asked.

"Why didn't you TELL me you had a SISTER?!" Cleo shot back. She was _mad._ "How could you keep something like that from me? Wait, you didn't tell Emma did you?"

"Hey, leave Rikki alone," Zane said, coming to her rescue.

"Calm down, Cleo," Lewis added. "I'm sure she has a reason why she didn't tell us?" he said looking at Rikki.

"Thanks a lot!" Rikki snapped at Lewis. "Just leave me alone!" she shouted, in particular to Cleo.

"Oh, I will!" Cleo shouted back. They both wanted to get up to storm away from each other but of course they had to make do with shuffling a metre or two towards opposite sides of the room on their tails and facing away from each other.

"What's her name?" Zane whispered.

"Huh?" Rikki said in surprise. "You're not angry?"

"No, why would I be?"

"Well, judging by Cleo's reaction…"

"You know I'm not anything like Cleo. We all have secrets," Zane opined. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Her name."

"Oh…it's Roxy. Well actually it's Roxanne, but my mum called her Roxy for short and it stuck. Everyone calls her that as far as I know…" She drifted off into silent thought.

"Do you want to talk about her?"

Rikki shrugged.

Zane remembered the day when he and Rikki had been locked out on the hotel balcony. "You said your parents were divorced. They fought about money?"

"Yeah," Rikki replied. "At first it was nothing. Only little conflicts, you know, over what we were going to buy for dinner or Dad thinking Mum shouldn't have bought a new pair of shoes. But it escalated after Roxy was born. They were both stressed out having a new baby and finding it hard to make ends meet…I wasn't much help. I was only ten. I didn't understand what was going on. One day Dad announced he was leaving. They had arguments all the time and this was after a particularly big one. I didn't want him to go. I adored my dad. So he took me with him. When I was older, I…felt like I should despise my dad for leaving Mum with a baby. But he told me he had had to leave, he couldn't stand it anymore. We moved from town to town, never staying in one place for long…until now. I never had time to make proper friends. Roxy will be six now, but we never talk about them…It hurts too much."

Having concluded her speech, Rikki took a deep breath. Looking round she realised Cleo and Lewis had heard every word she'd said. Cleo was pale with shock and Lewis looked surprised too. "I'm so sorry. I never imagined…" Cleo apologised.

"I'm sorry too, I should have told you ages ago."

"Well," Lewis started. Cleo shot him a look. "What, Cleo? Did you say they live in Sydney?" he asked Rikki. She nodded mutely.

"Oh! Sorry, Lewis," Cleo said. "That means we can call them, and then they can go to Mermaid's Cove, and then…"

"Then what?" Ash asked.

"Then they can take Emma to their house…" Cleo trailed off, looking at Rikki.

Rikki closed her eyes, like she needed to think about it. When she finally opened them, she grinned. "My idea all along," she said.

"Well c'mon, pass me the phone!"

* * *

_Just keep swimming, just keep swimming_, Emma repeated to herself. She knew it was just a line from a kid's movie, but it did help her to focus on swimming and forget about her hunger, and exhaustion. Loneliness. Worry. Other emotions, which were so potent it seemed would cause her physical pain if he let them overwhelm her now.

Emma surfaced to take a gulp of fresh air. She had to do this about every ten minutes. She knew she could hold her breath for longer, but she didn't want to take any chances, not going at this breathless speed. Also, sometimes when she noticed the sky becoming lighter and the sun just begging to come out from behind the clouds, she'd make her storm fierce again. _Just in case they're looking for me, _she thought. So, leaving stormy seas in her wake, she continued to follow the current because it was her only hope.

After hours of swimming and finding that all she could see - grey, angry water, looked exactly the same as when she started, Emma wondered how far exactly she had swum out from the coast while she was under the moon's spell last night. She was starving, but found the idea of eating raw fish unappetising. _Maybe seaweed?,_ she thought, and dove down below the waves in search of something to take the edge off her hunger, even if it was disgusting, salty seaweed. Sushi was made out of seaweed. It couldn't be that bad.

It was. After spitting out her first, rather tentative mouthful, Emma downed as much of the horrible green weed that she had discovered as she could bear. The rumble in her tummy had been muted at least for now. No doubt it would start up again; there wasn't much but water in seaweed.

As Emma's head broke the surface and she took a gulp of air, she realised she was no longer alone, A fishing boat had appeared, and there were two people in it. Luckily they were both fishing on the opposite side of the boat and therefore didn't see her. Nevertheless she quickly hid herself just under the surface of the water in case either of them happened to turn around.

She would have continued swimming if she hadn't realised that there must be land somewhere nearby - this boat was not much bigger than Lewis's and probably not up to travelling long distances. She swam quickly back over to the boat and hid herself right beside it. Here, she could hear the two men talking.

"We better get back home; that storm might start up again."

"Yeah, I wonder what caused it - it came right out of the blue."

_Among plenty of other things, _Emma thought. Then she realised what she had just heard-the two men had said they were going home! That meant they were heading back to land, and she could follow them.

Emma peeped over the side of the boat, and spotted a packet of lollies lying unopened nearby. She was so hungry. If she reached for them, she could just grab them…

"Argh!" she heard a shout and thunderous footsteps over to the side of the boat she was hiding behind. "There was a hand! It reached up and grabbed my lollies!"

The other man laughed. "Yeah right, and what do you think the hand belonged to? A mermaid?"

Hearing this, Emma dove underwater, grasping the packet lollies in her right hand as she arrowed downwards. But as her tail splashed accidentally on the surface of the water she could swear she heard the men shouting again. She just hoped they hadn't been saying what she thought they had -"_It is a mermaid_!"


End file.
